A blast of energy shot out of an inky black cloud, and exploded as it made contact with the nearest object. And then... darkness again. And pain. And rushing wind. It was almost like falling... Because it was falling. Jay opened his eyes to see him falling off of the top of Borg Tower, but it was blurry, and it felt like it was happening in slow motion. He could almost make out his friends' voices calling out his name, but they weren't clear either. Jay couldn't feel or hear anything except for the wind. But then it stopped. Every thing stopped. It was dark, and quiet. Empty. He thought he felt a burst of pain for a second, but he didn't feel it any more. He didn't feel, hear or see... anything anymore. Just dark. Ninjago City was under major threat, an attack of galactical evil proportions. The ninja had ordered an evacuation of not just the city, but a good chunk of area around it. And through the chaos, a certain thief was trying to nab all the valuable things the residents had left behind. Ronin. He didn't care if it was someone's dropped wedding ring, or a cash register that a restaurant just so happened to leave unattended. He'd take it. And he did. At this point, he had an entire sack full of stolen treasures, and was about to make a break for R.E.X. (his airship) But right as he was about to call for it, something caught his attention. An explosion atop Borg Tower, and something that went flying off. It looked pretty big; possibly one of the ninja's weapons? That could be worth a pretty penny if that was the case. And Ronin DOES NOT pass up on anything even remotely rare, so he ran to the direction of the objects landing spot. It didn't take him long to get there, and it took even less time to realize that it wasn't a sword that fell off the tower- it was Jay. The master thief stood in shock at what he had just found. "It's... It's that kid. But how did?-" Ronan trailed off as he stared down at the child. He hesitated at first, but he slowly inched closer to take a better look. "Oh, please don't tell me that's all blood..." he got closer. *sigh* "Ya. It is." Jay was covered in blood, and his clothes were all torn. That implied that he partly tumbled down the pile of ruble. Not just fell straight down and hit the sidewalk. Either way, Jay was dead. There was no possible way for him to survive a fall and tumble like that. Ronin was practically hovering over the ninja, probably thinking about checking his pockets for change or something. What? A dead man doesn't need that $1.50 anymore. What's he gonna do? Buy a soda? Just as he reached down to check, something out of a miracle happened. Jay gasped and opened his eyes. Only a sliver, but noticeable enough to terrify Ronin into falling back onto his butt.
"You- y- you're alive?!?" he said in a panic. Jay just lied there completely out of it. He didn't know why, but Ronin felt terrible for him. He liked to act all big and tough, like he only cared about himself, but this time... it was so weird. So difficult to keep up the act. It was strange, something it Ronin's head was screaming at him to help him. A voice. One that just kept getting louder. Ronin tried to ignore it, looking away from Jay. But he broke and looked down at the wounded ninja. Jay looked like he was dying. Then Ronin's gaze met with Jay's. And there was something he couldn't ignore further... a small spark in his eyes. It was the look of begging for help. He could tell Jay was in a lot of pain, and the look in his eyes- Ronin didn't know what in the world he was about to do, but he knew he had to do it. "Ugh! FINE!" The thief whistled for R.E.X as he picked up Jay. The air ship came rocketing over from a distant rooftop. Jay gave one final look up at Ronin, and then everything went black.
---------------------------------------------------------

4 years later...
Ninjago had fallen into ruin. Not just the city, but the entire area around it. The great beast the ninja were fighting in the beginning of this story, Doom, had at one point let out a massive shockwave. It was almost like it had summoned all the plants to grow the city over, and when you try to rip them out, they just grow back stronger. Whatever that being was, had fled not long after its attack. However, it had left behind minions. Wyverns. Dragon like creatures that raided the city and destroyed all who stood in their way. These beasts were relentless, and were the cause of many deaths. Most citizens had evacuated, and if not, they were destroyed. Regardless of the state of the world, there were some people who still refused to fall. People who lived on.

-----
Desert of Doom- 5:24 AM (Ronin's secret base)

"Come on kid, wake up. It's morning!" Said Ronin trying to wake up Jay. The former ninja groaned and rolled over, pulling the blanket over his head. Ronin gave a little chuckle and pulled the blanket off of him completely. "Come on kid, you're gonna be 20 next year. You really need me to wake you up like a baby every morning?" Jay groaned again but got up and rubbed his eyes. "So what's the plan for this morning?"
"I noticed that we were running a little bit low on food so, I'm going hunting. As for you, I mean, you're 19 now. Do whatever you want." The thief grabbed his bow and arrow and a few other weapons, and started to walk to the door. "And you know the rules, right?" Jay nodded and recited the rules. That being- 'Don't be stupid, stay out of the city, and don't get yourself killed.' One of which, Jay was very intent on breaking today. Ronin gave a little salute and walked out the door. Once it was closed, Jay immediately started to collect a few things and shove them in a small bag. He was going to the city. He got bored of just mucking around in the desert all the time. There was nothing there but sand and rocks. And a massive beetle in which Jay had randomly named Bernie. He was bored, and would see it all the time, so he figured he would give it a name. Just something to call it, so he could say hi to it every morning. Jay hadn't been to the city since the accident, and part of him feared going back there for that reason. Last time he was there, he had fallen off a building and nearly died. So yes, he was a little bit nervous, but he figured that a little bit of adventure couldn't hurt him. If he had survived the past four years, he was sure he could probably deal with whatever was in those buildings. 93% sure. So he hopped on his bike that he had scrapped together, and speed off toward the overgrown city. Whatever was there, he was going to be ready for it.
He sped through the desert as fast as he could, only taking his eyes off the target when he noticed Bernie coming up behind him. He hopped the motorcycle on to the nearest rock and watched him pass. The giant insect reared up out of the sand and let out a huge roar. Jay rolled his eyes. " Good morning to you too, you big dung beetle!" Bernie turned towards Jay and let out another little screech before burrowing back into the sand and going somewhere else. "Ya, you too!" he called back at the creature. And with that he was off speeding towards the city again. He could see it getting closer and closer the more he drove. From barely a speck in the distance, to what he could visibly see as a skyline... he was about to break Ronin's rule, one he knew was set in place to protect him. But he was practically an adult now, he could handle himself. Before long he pulled into a parking lot at the edge of the city. He looked up at the overgrown, towering buildings and immediately started to feel extremely uneasy. He knew what had happened to the city but seeing it like this- in ruin... Seeing somewhere that was once his home completely destroyed- regardless of all the bad memories he had from the last time he went, it still broke his heart. He looked up just in time to see little chunk of a building crumble off and land by his feet. He stared at it longingly for a second before shaking it off and continuing on. He strolled through the streets taking in all that the once grand landmark had become. *snap!* Jay spun and frantically looked around. He wasn't alone, someone or something had just found him. The boy brought his mask over his face like a ninja wrap and slowly walked backwards down the highway, still in full alert. Now that he thought about it, everything was way too quiet. *WHOOSH!* The silence was broken. Jay got into a fighting position as a figure darted out of the foliage and started to attack. The figure almost had a black ninja mask on, and was seemingly staying in the shadows to avoid being seen. But Jay was a ninja once, so he was sure he knew all the mystery person's tricks. The guy pulled out a small sword and jumped back out to attack Jay. The blue ninja was quick to dodge and draw his own dagger. The wind blew by as the 2 examined each other, waiting for one of them to make a move. The enemy struck first, lunging at him with the sword. Jay jumped out of the way and attempted to strike back, but he too didn't land the attack. They fought back and forth dodging and striking at one another. Neither of them landing a big enough blow. It was almost like the enemy was holding back. Not actively trying to kill him. Finally Jay had enough playing around. He started emitting sparks, and soon let out an electrical blow, sending the masked stranger off the side of the highway and landing on the ground below. Jay jumped down to see if he had finished the fight. The enemy laid there on the ground sparking. He lifted his head to look at Jay standing a few feet away. "I- I don't understand... how? How did you just?..." the pure confusion in his voice turned to suspicion and slight anger. "Who... ARE YOU?!?" The blue ninja took his mask off to reveal himself. The foe slowly got up looking beyond shocked and terrified.

"J- Jay?..." they whispered.

"Um... yes?"
The foe reached up and removed their disguise. It was Kai. His face was all dirty and he was starting to cry.

"Jay... I.. We... We thought that you-YOU'RE ALIVE!" He ran over and gave Jay a big hug. *spark. Zolt- WHAM!* Jay let out a massive surge of electricity, blowing Kai back a good 6 feet. "You- DARE SHOW YOUR FACE AGAIN?!" He boomed. Kai watched on in shock. "First, you ABANDONED me, leave me to die... Not even bother looking for me for 4 YEARS!? And you attack me, only to HUG ME BEFORE EVEN SAYING SORRY?!?"
"Jay, I had no idea that you... I mean, we- *sigh* We never bothered looking for you- because....
we thought you had died."
Silence .

"I'm so sorry you thought we abandoned you. I swear we didn't know... But I'm SO glad to see you're alive! The guys will be so-"
"NO! JUST SHUT UP!" Screamed Jay. He was in tears. "I knew I should have never came back to the city! I knew Ronin had a reason for this place being off limits! AAAAAAHHHHG!"
"Ronin?"
"SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Jay ran off towards his bike as fast as he could. Kai watched in tears.
"NO. I'm not letting you go this time." He whispered. And Kai followed after him.

------
With tears streaming down his face, Jay hopped on his bike and raced off. When he got back to the desert, he jumped up on a rock and curled up.
"I can't believe that this whole time, they were alive and well. And me? Stuck in a bed for almost a full year. *sniffle * I don't ever want to see those traders again. I never should have ever gone back in the first place...." He stared down at the sand below. A smaller beetle crawled up to Jay's side, looking up at him and making a strange noise. It was only about a foot long, tiny compared to Bernie, who was the size of large house. Jay reached down and pet the insect. He gave a sigh and began venting to it. The ex ninja went on and on about how his so called friends abandoned him. And how Kai had just admitted to not even bothering to look for him? Man, that made Jay mad just thinking about it. All these years, he hadn't known if the ninja were dead or alive. And somehow now he wished that he never found out. He knew that the city was a terrible idea, but he was SO certain that he could handle whatever was in there. But instead of an adventure ending in proof that Ronin could stop treating him like a child, he felt like going home and crying. Like a child. He wasn't going to tell Ronin about the place he snuck off to anymore. He didn't know what excuse he was going to give for him crying or feeling like trash. But he had always been good at improvising. He'd think of something. Jay wiped away the tears that were still on his face, and rode the rest of the way home.

"Hey kid, I'm home!" Ronin yelled as he walked into the base.

Quiet.

"Bud?"

Nothing.

Ronin closed the door behind him and walked over to the main room where they slept. Still nothing. *BAM!*
A loud noise erupted from one of the side rooms. The thief peaked into one to see Jay beating the living crud out of a punching bag that was hung from the ceiling. He didn't even notice that Ronin was standing in the doorway. Jay let out a raging scream as he once again punched the red punching bag as hard as he could. Ronin sighed. "Alright, what's wrong?" Jay smacked it again then turned to Ronin. "NOTHING." The thief gave a very disbelieving and curious look.
"Ya... NO. I know what it looks like to be throwing punches out of blind anger. Trust me, I've dealt with my problems like that before. It feels good in the moment, but it doesn't do you much good in the long run. Tell me what's up."

"I said- I'M FINE!" Jay snapped.
He started emitting sparks as he glared at the man. The look Ronin was giving him was practically screaming "I know there's something up, and if you don't tell me I'll smack you harder than what you're doing to that bag." The look sent a shiver down his spine. Jay sighed and confessed were he was all day. "You were where?! I TOLD YOU not to go there SO MANY times! Why in the name of the First Spinjitzu Master would you-"
"I found someone there!" interrupted Jay. "While I was walking through the city, I accidentally ran into a person." He paused. Hesitated. "I... I got into a fight with him and I used my powers. He realized who I was, and took his mask off. It was Kai."
"You're old friend?!"
Jay nodded and explained the whole interaction in full rant mode while going back to the punching bag. Ronin was upset that his rule was broken, but at the same time, he knew his own crimes. He had done far worse than breaking a no trespassing rule, so it was forgiven quickly. Before long it was talked out, and they had agreed to go play Lava Zombies to cheer Jay up a bit. They walked over to the TV as they jokingly smack talked each other about how bad they were at the game. *clang* A metallic clang echoed through the hideout. The 2 perked up and got into a fighting position. *clang* And the sound happened again. They slowly drew their weapons, readying for a fight. Ronin with a blaster gun, and Jay with his dagger. A shadowy figure dropped from the ceiling and landed about 8 feet away from them. Ronin wasted no time and began shooting at it. The shadow dodged every single one with amazing acrobatics. With a swoosh by, neither of them were holding their weapons. The shadow stole them and stepped into the light. He unmasked himself. Kai. Again. "YOU!" snapped Jay.

"Good going numbskull! You let him follow you here!"
"I didn't know I was being followed!"
"How couldn't you tell he was on your tail?!"
Kai cleared his throat to interrupt the two arguing. "With all due respect RONIN, I'm a highly trained ninja. It's kind of my job to be stealthy."
The thief and the red ninja angrily glared at each other. A moment later, Kai snapped out of it and faced his old teammate. "Jay, I'm here because I need your help with something important. A mission if you will." The blue ninja glared curiously.
"And what exactly makes you think I'd do anything for you, after what you did to me?!?"

"Ya! You leave him to rot, and you have the guts to ask for his help before even saying sorry?!" Added Ronin.
Kai stood up tall and put on a serious face. He knew that Jay was stubborn, but the past four years seemed to have made it worse. But he knew something about Jay that would never change. "Nya and Zane are missing." Jay almost perked up at the mention of Nya. Kai knew it. No matter how hardened Jay claimed his heart was, he still loved Nya.
"Nya is MISSING?!" Jay yelled.
Kai nodded. "And so is Zane. They went out to collect resources 3 days ago, and still haven't returned."
"Sounds to me like your friends were turned into wyvern snacks." Mocked Ronin.
Kai rolled his eyes.
Jay stared down at the floor, lost in thought.
"Come on buddy, you were an amazing detective back then! Both you and Zane would be able to solve a mystery in 3 minutes! And the only clues you'd have were a paper clip and a candy wrapper!..."
Ronin stepped in front of Jay and started the whole "why should he care " thing again. Kai groaned and pulled out a "Welcome to Ninjago City" travel pamphlet from his pocket. He told Ronin to shut up and threw it for Jay to catch. "If you ever need us, you know where to find me." The blue ninja and Ronin looked at the paper confused. And when they looked back up, Kai was gone. "Ug. Stupid ninja and their disappearing tricks. I'm gonna go lock the door before anyone else tries to sneak in this place. " Jay looked down at the pamphlet longingly. He sat on the couch and unfolded it. Inside was a map of the city, and an area circled in red marker. Kai's words echoed in his mind. "If you ever need us, you know were to find me." The paper went in his pocket and he headed off to bed.
The next morning, Jay woke up bright and early to immediately get ready for the day. He was sure Ronin would still be asleep, the sun had only begun to rise. So he headed for the front door. As he reached out to grab the handle, he heard a voice. "And where do you think you're going this early?" Jay froze. "You better not be going off to play hide and seek with your little friends." Uh oh. He had been caught. Time to improvise. "W- What?! NO! Of course not! I never want to see those traders again." Not a FULL lie... Ronin went along with the answer and asked where he was going. Ok. It's fine, just need to activate improvising part 2. "Oh, I'm heading out east to go race Bernie. He's more active this time of day." Jay smiled. Ronin looked like he was about to call him out and see through the act, but he didn't. Instead he gave a chuckle and walked away. "Alright. Don't let him eat ya!" Jay gave a sigh of relief. "I won't! Bye!!!" he ran out the door and slammed it behind him. Jay hopped on his bike and raced away. He looked down at the compass welded to the handle. West. The direction of the city.

-----
Once again, Jay pulled up to it's borders, gazing up at the crumbling skyscrapers. He tried his best to shake off the immense feeling of dread as he pushed on. According to the map, he was getting closer to the destination. He wondered where his friends had been hiding out all these years. He looked up at the building Kai had circled on the map. A wave of terror washed over him. Borg Tower. Every terrible flashback swarmed in his brain.
Jay opened his eyes to see himself falling off of Borg Tower. He could almost make out his friends calling out his name, but they too were unclear. His heart raced faster and faster.
He panicked so hard he fell off his bike, and onto the crumbled pavement. The former ninja opened his eyes to see he was laying on the ground. He made a whining groan as he stood up and walked over toward the entrance. The stairs leading to the door were broken, with plants growing all over them. The building itself was absolutely covered in vines and moss. Honestly, slightly heartbreaking to see. Jay stopped at the door, frozen in fear. It had been 4 whole years since he had last seen the ninja. What if they were mad at him? What if they had changed so much that he would barely know them anymore?! Or even worse?... Well, as terrified as he was, he came too far to turn back now. Jay slowly pushed open the door and walked in. *WHAP! WHOOSH! BAM!* Before he could figure out what was going on, jay found himself caught in a trap, dangling upside down from the ceiling. A barrage of electricity shot out of him as he let out an angry scream. "I knew it! This was a TRAP! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE RIGHT NOW!" He struggled to try break the metal rope wrapped around his ankle. "We got somebody!" Shouted a voice from the balcony of the lobby. A boy with blond hair, a green, tattered shirt, and bright green eyes ran over to look. He peered around the corner and froze the second he made eye contact with Jay. Jay glared at the boy. "How DARE YOU trap me up here! I oughta..." he trailed off as the blond stepped fully into view. "WAIT. Lloyd?" The boy stared up in disbelief. "YES. Th- that's right! I'm Lloyd!" he began to smile in a hopeful manner. "J- Jay?"
The blue ninja looked on slightly irritated but relieved. He gave a little sigh. "Yep. That's my name. Been a hot minute, huh Lloyd?" Lloyd was all teared up and covering his mouth witch was uncontrollably smiling. "Kai was telling the truth! You're alive!"
Jay chuckled. "yep. Now, if you don't mind me asking... please let me down from here. What little blood I have left is rushing to my head and I'm getting really dizzy." Lloyd apologized and quickly rushed over to pull the lever. The mechanism clicked off, dropping Jay on the ground. The green ninja helped him on his feet. Jay hesitantly thanked him as Lloyd began to bombard him with questions and apologies. "Look. Lloyd, I'm happy to see that you're alive too, but... I'm not here to hang out with you guys. I'm here because Kai said you needed my help finding Nya and Zane." The green ninja's smile dropped. "Now, kindly take me to the others." Lloyd nodded and began to walk upstairs. "The sooner I leave this place, the better." Whispered Jay under his breath.
The two walked down the corridors, every footstep echoing quietly. The tower was definitely falling into disrepair, but it seemed the ninja were doing their best to keep the foliage outside. Where there were cracks in the wall, there was an effort to fix it. They seemed to have been keeping it as neat as possible. Jay admitted to finding that impressive. Finally, they arrived at a door that was labeled "Lab 4". Jay read out loud. Lloyd turned to him. "Well, it WAS a laboratory, but it's more of a meeting room now." Jay tilted his head before looking back up at the metal door. A shiver ran down his spine as Lloyd reached for the door handle to open it. Admittedly, he was still nervous- no. Terrified about meeting with the others again. The door swung open, to reveal Cole and Kai sitting on couches opposite of each other. There was barely any furniture in the room, with the exception of two very dirty looking sofas, and a metal table that appeared to be left over from "lab 4". Cole and Kai looked over to the doorway witch Jay was hiding out of the way from. Lloyd walked in and announced that today was a special meeting. He looked back towards the door, as Kai and Cole did the same. Nervously, Jay stepped into the room with his eyes shut tightly. He began to open one, expecting something intimidating, but he didn't. Just his old teammates. Sure, they were older looking and filthy, but he supposed that was expected. Kai's face lit up. "Jay! You came!" Jay was about to respond, but he quickly lost his train of thought when he noticed Cole. Like all the other reactions he had gotten the last few days, Cole was getting teared up and covering up an uncontrollable smile. "Ah, hi Cole." said the blue ninja with a slight wave. The master of earth sprung out of his perch and hugged Jay insanely hard. "Jay! OH MY GOD! I thought you were... and then Kai came back smoking, and he said you zapped him! I didn't believe him at all, I thought he was just being stupid again! But he was telling the truth!..... You're ok!"
Jay could barely breathe under the pressure of the hug, but he didn't know if he wanted to. He had loved Cole, don't get him wrong, but let's just say the apocalypse doesn't exactly have 24/7 shower access. He was practically nose blind to it though. He lived with Ronin for God's sake. At least his base HAD a shower, he wasn't so sure about Borg Tower though. *ZAP* Jay sent Cole flying across the room with an electrical blast. Cole stood back up and shook it off relatively quickly. He seemingly had electrical resistance of some kind.
"Your powers definitely grew since the last time we saw you." Complemented Lloyd. "Ya. Your powers AND you. You look so much more mature now!" added Cole. Kai got up and thanked him for coming. Jay cleared his throat. "Anyway, If you don't mind, I'm only here to help locate Nya and Zane. THAT'S IT." He sparked at the end of the statement. "Just because I'm under the same roof as you again, does NOT mean I'm your friend! I still don't forgive you for what you did to me." Kai sighed as he nodded.
"I understand. You have no right to. Now, I suppose we should fill you in on the situation." Kai sat back down on the arm of the couch; crossing his arms. "Zane and Nya went out to collect resources, and have somehow vanished. And that was days ago now. " Cole added to that saying that they suspiciously took their weapons and bags with them. Jay stared down at the floor looking perplexed. "And they said absolutely nothing about were they were headed?" he inquired. They all shook their heads no. Odd. "Well, actually..." Lloyd started. "Nya DID previously mention that the resources in the area are running short of low." Jay perked up. "SO they're not where you expect them to be. They must have ventured further off to see if they could find a more plentiful area!" Cole nodded. "Yes. But what direction did they head in? What area would be so.-"
Just then a memory flooded back into Jay's mind.
Jay was taking off the few remaining bandages off his legs and arm. He winced as he hopped off the bed. Ronin walked over to him and helped him stand up. "Getting tired of the view yet kid?" he jokingly asked. At that point, Jay had been bedridden for months now. He had yet to leave the room, let alone the base. "Ya. Definitely getting a little bit old." Jay whispered with a slight irritation in his voice. Ronin chuckled. "Good. Cause we're getting you out of here for a while."
The memory flashed to the two standing at the ocean. The blue ninja peered out over the horizon in awe. Ronin looked down at him with almost a proud smile. "The plants may have taken over most of the land mass, but the ocean... That's one thing it can never touch. Well, that, and maybe any islands out there."
The master of lightning snapped back into reality and cut off Cole.
"The OCEAN!" He exclaimed.
The other ninja watched him confused as he started to pace back and forth describing the newly recalled memory.
"So, what you're saying is- you think they went out to the beach to collect resources?.. Dude. There's nothing there but sand and salt water." Said Kai. Lloyd was all ready on his laptop trying to mess with the map program Zane had downloaded 5 months prior. It updated as he discovered new places. Lloyd scrolled to the beach section and his eyes lit up. "Jay was right! Zane just updated 5 minutes ago! A new location appeared on the map! An island." Jay smiled smugly as he folded his arms and stood up tall. Cole and Kai huddled around Lloyd; desperately trying to peek at the computer screen. Lloyd closed the laptop and looked around at the others confidentiality. "Get your life vests boys. We're going to find our friends!"